Reframing: an act of leadership to help others "go and see" in a different way
I happen to know a thing or two about how our (human) brains are "wired", so I am conscious that to some degree what I am about to state might as well be influenced by most recent events driving best pattern matching. But since I did spend some time reflecting on it further, I am fairly confident this is by and large fundamentally true:
One of the most empowering acts of leadership anyone can take is to help others "go and see" things in a different way.
The technical term for that is reframing, a strategy to help others adjust their "mindset" either by focusing on positive parts, but also by changing expectations to be more realistic. The latter is the part that I have been largely experiencing recently, and I am encouraged by observing how effective that seems to be.
A couple of examples for clarity::
Instead of focusing on the perceived lack of agility because of an existing constraint of quarterly planning, focus on what can be done to sequence and deliver more incrementally within the quarter, as a stepping stone.
Instead of getting frustrated that an organization still has a long way to go to move out of traditional initiative/output based annual planning cycles, why not tactically focus on an ongoing basis how you can at least manage more by outcomes at that level that you control or at least can influence?
And I could go on and on with more of such examples and attempt to illustrate how powerful that can be. But at the end, it really boils down to Chesterton's answer to What's wrong with the world"...
"I am."
But also his later addendum:
"What is wrong is that we don't ask (sufficiently) what is right."
What I mean to say by connecting these couple of things together here is that, although such a key step, reframing is also more like a stepping stone, at the end, in which we can help others to "go and see" from a different angle, but then move on to what matters most:
"What can YOU/WE do about it"?
It does take leadership already to do the first move, the reframing. But that in and of itself won't bring the results in, unless you do something about what you have learned once you could "go and see" things in a different way.
And while being intentional is all good and well, the old saying still applies:
The hell is paved of (good) intentions…
So, we should aim higher, to take charge, to lead by example, and do it in a focused and relentless manner. One step at a time. Solving one problem, then the next one, and then the other… Also, without preoccupying too much on the underlying bigger issues that might influence or at least create a constraint:
"For each day its own troubles." (Matthew 6:34c)